Welcome to the second edition of The Fourteener, the official digital newsletter for the Veterans of VA ECHCS. We are proud to serve YOU!
Greetings! My name is Sallie Houser-Hanfelder and I am the Director of the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System (ECHCS). Welcome to the second edition of your quarterly newsletter. In this edition, we will explore your PFC Floyd K. Lindstrom Outpatient Clinic at Colorado Springs!
Address: 3141 Centennial Boulevard,
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
Phone: (719) 327-5660
PFC Floyd K. Lindstrom Outpatient Clinic by the numbers, FY2018
• 32,535 unique patients
• 4,407 of those are female Veterans
• 187,531 total outpatient visits
What kinds of services are available at the PFC Lindstrom Clinic?
- Primary Care
- Specialty Care
- Audiology (walk-in clinic every Monday-Thursday)
- Dental
- Lab
- Nutrition (MOVE Program)
- Occupational Therapy
- Orthopedics
- Outpatient Mental Health
- Pharmacy
- Physical Therapy
- Podiatry
- Prosthetics
- Radiology (CAT Scan, MRI, Ultrasound, X-Ray)
- Registration
- Surgical (Pre and Post)
- Telehealth
- Urology
- Womens Health
- Vascular (twice a month)
"Our Clinic is proud to serve our Veterans and we do our best to treat everyone like family" -- Regional Manager of the PFC Floyd K. Lindstrom Clinic Kim Hoge
Did you attend the 2018 PFC Floyd K. Lindstrom Outpatient Clinic's Open House?
This year, the Open House was on September 28th.
The celebration lasted most of the day, with over 45 booths from community partners offering Veteran services. Organizations like the Wounded Warrior Project, Operation TBI Freedom, Peak Military Care Network, Women's Army Corps, Victory Service Dogs, Operation Homefront, and more were onsite with information on services and programs just for our Veterans!
Guests were entertained with music by the 4th Infantry Division Band from Fort Carson.
U.S. Snowboard Team member Jason Wolle stopped by to sign autographs for our Veterans. He is training for the Winter Olympics and enjoyed spending time meeting Veterans and staff.
The Vet Center was on hand all day for Veterans to stop by and discover what "Here for You 24/7" means.
Overall, it was an excellent day with food, fun, information and camaraderie! We hope to see you at next year's Open House!
Veterans, have you seen the artwork hanging in your RMR concourse?
A painting of Louis Armstrong creating sonic joy with his trumpet. A Native American Chief made of wire, shadows and light. A triptych of the Twin Towers. A stunning photograph of the Colorado Rockies in Autumn. Intricate beadwork depicting the POW/MIA flag done in red, white and blue. This isn’t an art gallery. It’s the new Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center (RMR) in Aurora.
On the way to an appointment at RMR, patients walk through a main concourse that connects the different campus buildings. All the artwork hanging along this concourse was created by local Veterans, and most of it is for sale. If a piece of art is purchased, the artist receives 100% of his or her commission. The Veterans Canteen Service facilitates the sale through the RMR Patriot Shop.
Eastern Colorado Health Care System (ECHCS) Director Sallie Houser-Hanfelder said, “We wanted to make this medical center a hub for our Veterans, a place for them to come and visit with other Veterans, have a cup of coffee, relax in comfort while waiting for their appointments. With that mindset, we decided to showcase the incredible talents of our Veterans, especially those who participate in rehabilitative creative therapy and the Creative Arts Festival. Hanging the art done by our Veterans seemed like the perfect finishing touch.”
One person integral to making the director’s vision a reality was Army Veteran Jim Stevens, an accomplished artist himself. At the 2018 National Veterans Creative Arts Festival, Stevens won first place in the Special Recognition—Physical Disability category. The Native American Chief mentioned above is one of his pieces.
Stevens is also director of the VFW Post #1 Veterans Arts Council (VAC) in Denver, and one of the curators of the art gallery located at the post in the heart of Denver’s Santa Fe Arts District. It was this and his experience as a Veteran that uniquely qualified him to help guide ECHCS’ Veteran gallery project.
“Knowing our experience working with Veterans, the arts, and successful gallery management over the last four years, Mrs. Hanfelder asked me and the Post 1 Commander at that time to meet with her to help the ECHCS staff with curating, intake and hanging needs for the Veterans art display project she had in mind for the new hospital. With our gallery experience, we were happy to help,” Stevens said.
Stevens worked with ECHCS staff on the artist application and intake paperwork, the selection of the hanging system for the walls, management of art sales. On art intake day, the VAC also supplied the odds and ends that are always needed for the physical hanging of art works and display cards. During intake, VAC staff guided Veteran volunteers in the proper labeling of the art and helped arrange and hang it.
Stevens continued, “The VAC mission is to assist, guide and expand opportunities for all Veteran artists in the community, and helping Director Hanfelder and her staff with this opportunity was an exciting win-win for everyone—including future visitors and patients. We were honored to help.”
Curious about the RMR art intake process?
The first step is signing up for the 2019 National Veterans Creative Arts Festival (NVCAF). VA incorporates creative arts into its recreation therapy programs to further the rehabilitation environment for both inpatients and outpatients. The annual NVCAF competition recognizes the progress and recovery made through that therapy, and raises the visibility of the creative achievements of our nation’s Veterans after disease, disability or life crisis. Learn more about the NVCAF here: https://www.blogs.va.gov/nvspse/national-veterans-creative-arts-festival/
"By participating in the NVCAF, the Veteran is not only increasing their creativity, expression and functioning—it also promotes community integration and social interactions with their peers and the public. Therefore, we feel there is no better way to curate the art hanging at RMR than by going through the NVCAF process,” said Recreational Therapist Sarah El Hage.
Artwork intended for RMR can be of different mediums, and will be securely hung on the wall or displayed on a locked shelving unit to discourage tampering. For space concerns, pieces cannot be above a certain size, and the work must be appropriate for the setting. Artwork does not need to win or even place in the NVCAF to be considered for display by the ECHCS Art Committee. Very limited space may be available for pieces created by Veterans not wishing to enter the NVCAF, but priority will be given to entries. To find out more about entering your art in the 2019 NVCAF and/or displaying your art in the RMR concourse, email VHAECHRMRArtCommittee@va.gov.
Applications for the 2019 NVCAF will come out early January 2019, and the RMR selection process will begin after the application deadline. We hope to see your name in the entries and your artwork on the walls!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...
Here's what's been happening around your VA!
VA Research Days at the new Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center
The Eastern Colorado Health Care System’s (ECHCS) 2018 VA Research Days drew a crowd at the new Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center (RMR) in Aurora, October 4 and 5. The auditorium approached standing room only, packed with doctors, residents, researchers, students, Veterans and other curious visitors. Medical staff from neighboring Children’s Hospital and UC Health of Colorado Hospital were among the crowd.
Veterans Integrated Service Network 19 Director Ralph Gigliotti kicked off the annual event, saying, “The research mission is very strong here, and Denver research has an incredible history. Our researchers’ work is aligned with the issues our Veterans are facing today.”
Part of the incredible history Gigliotti was referring to was Dr. Thomas Starzl, who performed the world’s first successful liver transplant in 1963 while serving as the chief of surgery at the Denver VA Medical Center. Starzl contributed to VA research for decades, received the Presidential Medal of Science and the Lasker Award for Clinical Science, and became known as “the father of modern transplantation.”
ECHCS Director Sallie Houser-Hanfelder echoed the network director’s comments, saying, “People are amazed when I tell them the nicotine patch was invented by VA researchers, and about the bionic research we are currently doing in Boulder. Research is one of the four critical missions of the VA, and our team is in the top 20 in the nation.”
After opening remarks, the audience spent 30 minutes learning about current research projects and meeting the VA researchers behind the work. During this time, small groups formed in front of research posters that lined every wall of the room. Like a grownup high school science fair, researchers stood next to their posters and explained how they are working to improve modern health care. Audience members stopped at posters that captured their attention and nibbled on refreshments before the next segment, a series of 10-minute lectures from the researchers.
During his lecture, ECHCS Chief of Medicine and president-elect of the American Thoracic Society, Dr. James Beck, talked about the willingness of Veterans to participate in clinical studies. He said, “In my 28 and a half years with the VA, I’ve been consistently amazed with how altruistic VA patients are. They really do want to participate in research, and we need to ask them and present the opportunity.”
Attendees also learned about diabetes research from ECHCS attending physician and president of Medicine & Science of the America Diabetes Association, Dr. Jane Reusch. “At the VA, we now have 24 percent, in contrast to nine percent of the general population, affected by diabetes,” she stated. “We have a chronic disease, something that lasts a lifetime, and people have to manage it all day, every day.”
She explained how the research being conducted on this chronic disease could have a life-changing impact for those afflicted, but it was her closing comments that summed up why raising awareness and interest in VA research at events like this was so important.
“If the whole research job were done, we would have no disease and all of us would have incredibly healthy lifespans,” she said. “Evidence and innovation are what will get us from research to impact.”
Dr. Pamela Rice, Director of Research Operations at ECHCS, summed it up perfectly with, “Our goal is to put ourselves out of business.”
To learn more about ongoing research at ECHCS, visit https://www.denver.va.gov/services/research.asp.
West Metro Veterans Fair
On September 25, over 45 booths with information and services just for Veterans assembled under one roof at the Lakewood Elks Lodge #1777 for the sixth annual West Metro Veterans Fair. There were free flu shots, snacks, a BBQ lunch, and community partners and non-profit organizations galore to talk with and help local Veterans.
The fair began with a presentation of the colors by a color guard from the Vietnam Veterans of American and singing of the national anthem. Veterans and family members visited tables from the Wounded Warrior Project, the Healing Warriors Program, Comeback Yoga, the Honor Bell Foundation and many more Veteran-friendly organizations. Visitors also stopped at VA tables for health care, benefits and national cemetery information, and local colleges and universities passed out education information.
Retired Air Force Colonel and Chairman for this year's West Metro Veterans Fair Cory Peterson said, "It's important from the city's perspective to recognize that there are a lot of Veterans that live here in Lakewood, and to be able to give back, to plug our Veterans into services that the community has available for them." The fair is made possible each year by the City of Lakewood and its generous volunteers.
If you missed the sixth West Metro Veterans Fair, don't worry, the fair is annual and it gets bigger every year. As Peterson said, "Every year there's something new!" We'll see you in 2019!
The Pueblo Community Living Center (CLC) hosted a carnival-style All Activities Day for Residents on September 15, 2018.
The annual All Activities Day is an event that Pueblo CLC Residents look forward to all year. American Legion Post 209 Commander Lino Calica was on his third year volunteering at this event. He said, "It's beautiful, so good to see the Veterans coming out for fresh air. They enjoy this, and we're so glad to be here to support them. We're here for them."
Fort Carson's 4th Infantry Division Band came to entertain CLC Residents and volunteers during the day, and they did not disappoint. Members of the band said they enjoy playing the event every year, and they can tell the Residents enjoy the music.
Whether they could dance or not, the Residents moved to the beat and enjoyed the tunes! Air Force Vietnam Veteran and CLC Resident Steve Rylant praised the event and the entertainment. He said, "This is all pretty neat! The band is fancy, impressive."
The Pueblo Young Marines were on hand to help set up and decorate for the event, as well as helping Residents play carnival games and carry their snacks and prizes. Recruit Montoya, age 8, said his favorite part of the day was "Feeding the Veterans and giving them stuff."
Several VSOs and Auxiliaries were among the nearly 30 booths and tables at the event. Every table had games to play and prizes to award Residents, as well as useful information and supplies. Smiling faces were everywhere while Residents shot baskets, bowled, tossed rings or otherwise won the day.
By the end of the event, CLC Residents retired to their rooms, tuckered out by fun and sun, bearing gift bags full of clothes, toiletries and snacks. Volunteer Specialist Keith Anderson said his favorite part of the day was simply "seeing the guys have fun. That's what it's all about."
Life-Changing Bike Giveaway
Disabled Army Veteran Michael L. Williams has big plans. “I’m 60 years old and I’m starting over,” Williams said. “The nomadic lifestyle I’ve been living, I’m trying to get away from that, and VA is helping me.”
Williams had been staying at VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System’s homeless domiciliary, Valor Point, for a few months before he received a surprise that would help him with his plans.
“I met Michael here at the domiciliary and we just connected,” Licensed Practical Nurse Lisa Alpert said. “I had quit smoking about 8 years ago after a health scare. I was stressed out and unhealthy, and I knew I had to do something. I bought a bicycle and my life changed.”
When Alpert heard about the upcoming Bike Giveaway from Way to Go, a program of Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), she jumped at the chance to nominate Williams. “Michael had heard my story and asked me for help beginning an exercise program a couple months ago. We started walking, and he shared a lot with me. I thought he would really benefit from bicycling.”
On June 20, 2018, Way to Go’s brand ambassadors Biker and Wheelie, staff from DRCOG and Golden Bear Bikes came to Valor Point to surprise Williams with his new bicycle.
Frank Cassella, owner of Golden Bear Bikes, said “My two sons are Veterans, so this is close to my heart, being able to present this bike to Michael today.”
Way to Go’s Celeste Davis Stragand said bicycles “provide people a connection to their community, to their city, and to the environment; and, more importantly, it’s a healthy way to get you where you need to go reliably. Veterans are near and dear to my heart, so I asked the United Veterans Council (UVC) for help finding a Veteran to give this safe and reliable transportation.” Stragand’s Grandfather had been a POW in WWII, and the UVC was happy to help her find a Veteran in need.
After posing for photos and celebrating with friends and Valor Point staff, Williams hopped on his new bicycle and took it for a spin around the parking lot.
“Stay Connected, that’s a thing the VA says, meaning if I stay close to the VA, I can be connected to something. This bike will help me do that.”
Have memorabilia to share?
Throughout the concourse of the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, we are showcasing our Veterans and their service to our country. The Concourse Art Committee is working with the community, employees and our Veterans to showcase various military memorabilia in 9 display cases along the concourse. In these cases, we plan to display items from all military branches/eras and family member keepsakes.
If you are interested in either donating or loaning items to be displayed, please contact the RMR Concourse Art Committee at: